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28/06/2013

World War Z

Forget the one big thing you know about
zombies because World War Z shakes it
up. Out go the shuffling slowcoaches we might expect, instead these undead are
stealthy and far harder to avoid which gives the film an urgency other similar ones
cannot compete with. There is so little time for people to defend themselves
that it creates an urgency that pulls the film way above expectations. A brilliantly
realised opening set up and the movie’s globetrotting also means that World War Z seems far less repetitive
than it actually is and the results are edge of the seat absorbing though if
you’re looking for characterisation you might not be able to tell the living from
the zombies!

Director Marc Foster stages one of the best
transformations from the ordinary to the extraordinary seen in a long while. A
Philadelphia family are on the school run when they find themselves in a
traffic jam which soon builds to a panic outside which then becomes chaotic.
The way this is done creates a believability that prepares you for the
revelation of a plague that turns people almost instantly (12 seconds in fact)
into howling hungry zombies. The cameras pick out individuals some of whom make
thrilling escapes, some of whom are transformed. It’s a stand out sequence that
the Foster never quite manages to subsequently match though there are plenty of
excellent ones to come.

It turns out that the family is not quite
ordinary. Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) has form in dealing with dangerous scenarios
and the UN calls him in from his self -imposed retirement from risk to go to South
Korea to try and find out how the zombie outbreak started. Even before they are rescued there is a terrifying
night spent in a city full of anarchy and danger. Pitt is just about convincing in a role that
doesn’t really require him to reveal his inner thoughts though Mireille Enos is
terrific as his left behind wife and it’s a shame she doesn’t get more to do
than stare worriedly at either her phone or kids.

The narrative continually pulls the rug from
under the feet of the protagonists keeping matters lively. Each time a
character seems to make a breakthrough either they then die in horrific circumstances
or the story moves on while Lane‘s options become increasingly closed off as
the threat magnifies. While this does keep matters exciting and un-predictable
it also means we barely get to know anyone.

There are several more memorable moments especially
a sequence in Jerusalem when zombies are trying to scale a wall and a superbly
staged episode on a plane. Foster continues to try inventive angles and makes
his zombies more frightening than most. They act more like animals with a noise
similar to those Jurassic Park
raptors and a couple of clever attributes that assist the drive of the film.

After the US, Korea and Israel, the fact that
the action eventually pares down to the unlikely environs of suburban Cardiff
is a little odd as if the scale of the story is being deliberately taken down
to a key scene that is literally Lane and one zombie. The shiny labs in which
the last 20 minutes take place do drain some of the tension away with the
action starting to resemble a video game rather than the epic it has thus far
been. It does add a little more characterisation to proceedings but somehow feels
like it’s taking us too far away from the main action.

Overall World
War Z keeps your attention via a series of dramatic set pieces and a
confidence that makes even the most implausible scenario seem possible.